Murray dumps federer

Federer, a four-time winner of the season-ending tournament, appeared bothered in the third set by a sore back that forced him to withdraw during the Paris Masters two weeks ago. The Swiss star received treatment three times on Friday but refused to quit.

Federer saved seven match points while serving at 4-5, before Murray converted two games later, breaking when Federer sent a forehand long. 8220;A win over Roger Federer means almost as much as winning the Masters Cup to me,8221; Murray said. 8220;He8217;s the best player of all time. He8217;s still playing great. I know I8217;m going to be tired tomorrow, but this match meant a lot to me.8221;

Murray, who had his left hand iced during one of Federer8217;s time-outs, will play Russia8217;s Nikolay Davydenko in the semi-finals. Federer8217;s loss allowed France8217;s Gilles Simon to advance. He will meet Serbia8217;s Novak Djokovic.

The ninth game of the third set lasted 17 minutes and went to deuce 10 times. Federer fended off the last of the seven match points with an ace, then blasted another before Murray sent a forehand long. 8220;When you play against Roger, you got to expect him to play some great stuff, especially when he8217;s behind,8221; Murray said. 8220;He hit a couple of aces, a couple of big forehands. I missed a couple of returns I maybe shouldn8217;t have.8221;

Federer tried to force a tiebreaker, but committed three forehand errors while serving at 15-15. Murray, who came in as one of the few players with a winning record against Federer at 3-2, already had clinched a spot in the last four from the Red Group. But he lived up to his promise not to take it easy, wanting to avoid the prospect of facing Federer again if both were to make the final.

Crowd favourite

Federer was trying to repeat last year8217;s feat of coming back after losing his opening-round match. The atmosphere was more akin to a final than the last match of group play. The Qi Zhong stadium was packed, and while the crowd overwhelmingly favoured Federer, Murray has won over a lot of fans in his debut here. They all got their money8217;s worth, with plenty of drama and great tennis.

The two players exchanged breaks in the middle of the first set. Then, with Murray serving at 4-5, Federer broke at love. Murray broke in the opening game of the second set, then again to pull ahead 5-2.

He had double set point while serving in the next game, only to see Federer rally to break. The Swiss star had triple breakpoint with Murray serving again for the set at 5-4. Murray forced deuce, but Federer whacked a clean forehand winner to set up another break chance, and Murray double-faulted to make it 5-5. Federer rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the tiebreaker to level, but Murray ran off the last four points.

Simon earlier beat Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-4 in what was essentially a meaningless match because Federer controlled his own destiny 8211; win and he was through, lose and go home.

8220;It was easier tonight because my match was not really important,8221; said the ninth-ranked Simon, who got in when a sore knee forced top-ranked Rafael Nadal to pull out of the season-ending tournament before it began. AP

Bjorkman bids adieu

Jonas Bjorkman brought the curtains down on his 17-year career in professional tennis after bowing out of the Masters Cup doubles on Friday. The 36-year-old Swede, who won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and was once ranked number four in the world in singles, had announced at Wimbledon this year that he would retire at the end of the season.

8220;It8217;s great to end my career in the biggest event of the year, even if I would have liked to have gone further. But you can8217;t have everything,8221; he told reporters after he and Zimbabwean partner Kevin Ullyett were beaten 6-2, 1-6, 10-6 by Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.

Bjorkman won a total of 14,567,823 in prize money over his career and three Davis Cups with his country in 1994, 1997, and 1998.

Bjorkman, who is going to dedicate his time to editing a Swedish tennis magazine, said he would miss the locker room banter but not the constant travel of the tour. 8220;I think the umpires are not going to miss me, he said. I8217;ve been quite tough on those guys.8221;